Query Office 365 Data as a SQL Server Database in Node.js

You can use CData Connect AI to query Office 365 data through a SQL Server interface. Follow the procedure below to create a virtual database for Office 365 in Connect AI and start querying using Node.js.

CData Connect AI provides a pure MySQL, cloud-to-cloud interface for Office 365, allowing you to easily query live Office 365 data in Node.js — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you query data in Node.js, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Office 365, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Office 365 data.

Configure Office 365 Connectivity for NodeJS

Connectivity to Office 365 from NodeJS is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Office 365 data from NodeJS, we start by creating and configuring a Office 365 connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "Office 365" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Office 365.

   Office 365 uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate requests, obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and OAuthCallbackURL by registering an app with Office 365. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Office 365 Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
   
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Office 365 data from Node.js.

Query Office 365 from Node.js

The following example shows how to define a connection and execute queries to Office 365 with the SQL Server module. You will need the following information:

• server: tds.cdata.com
• port: 14333
• user: a Connect AI user (e.g. [email protected])
• password: the PAT for the above user
• database: The connection you configured for Office 365 (Office3651)

Connect to Office 365 data and start executing queries with the code below:

var sql = require('mssql')
var config = {
	server: 'tds.cdata.com',
	port: 14333, 
	user: '[email protected]', //update me
	password: 'CONNECT_USER_PAT', //update me	
	options: {
		encrypt: true,
		database: 'Office3651'
	}
}

sql.connect(config, err => { 
 if(err){
 throw err ;
 }
 new sql.Request().query('SELECT * FROM Files', (err, result) => {
 console.dir(result)
 })
 
});

sql.on('error', err => {
 console.log("SQL Error: " ,err);
})